Something to Live For
by wingedauthoress14
Summary: Who do you fight for? is a question asked by many ninja. What will Neji's answer be when Tenten asks him this very question? sorry, but like i said b4, i can't write adequate summaries. plz read!


A/N: Hi. this is just a meaningless oneshot i did when i was bored. hope ya like it! Disclamer: i own no Naruto characters. it's fun to imagine what would happen if i did, though... :)

The sun blazed overhead as shuriken flew from the hands of the kunoichi. Sweat made her bangs stick to her face, and her legs shook from the effort to keep herself standing. She felt her strength fade, and her knees hit the ground. She berated herself mercilessly for being such a weakling; she hated falling down in front of Hyuuga Neji. The stitch in her side was searing with pain. She put a hand to it, gasping for breath.

"Tired already?" his voice floated toward her ears; she was pleased to hear that he sounded as exhausted as she was. Slowly, she tried to pick herself up, her lungs working overtime in the humidity.

"No way, Neji," she said, sounding just the opposite of how she felt. Neji noticed this, but said nothing. Instead, he resumed his fighting stance, and waited for her to make a move. _Why me?_ she asked herself as she got out two scrolls, and set them down in front of her. _Why today?_ She silently questioned him as she made the hand signs; the day was hot and humid, not a good day for training, but Neji, being Neji, made her come out of her air conditioned house and onto the training grounds anyway.

"Soushoryu!" Tenten shouted as two smoky dragons intertwined and encircled themselves as Tenten launched herself in between them. The dragons turned to scrolls , and Tenten reached, and launced an endless fury of weapons at the Hyuuga. He managed to repel most of the weapons with his chakra. Suddenly, Neji's chakra stopped, and he faltered for the first time in Tenten's memory, then, collapsed onto the ground. Stunned, Tenten ran towards him.

"Neji? Are you okay?" Neji's pearl gray eyes opened to see Tenten's blurred profile staring down at him, concern in her dark brown eyes. He raised himself into a sitting position, putting a hand to his head, and said:

"Yeah, I must have used up too much chakra, come on, we have to keep training," he tried to stand, but Tenten held him back, her hands on his shoulders.

"Why don't we take a break?" she suggested, a slight smile on her face. She helped him walk to the shade of a giant tree, feeling the humidity giving way to a light breeze that rustled the leaves of the trees in the forest. They sat down, and Tenten reached into her pack, getting out a water bottle and handed it to Neji. They both sat in silence for a few minutes, lost in their own thoughts. Just then, Tenten remembered a question she had wanted to ask Neji for some time. _What better a time than now?_ She asked herself.

"Neji?"

"Hn?"

"Do you think that fighting is all there is to live for in life?" Neji looked at her sharply, surprise, and perhaps, a little confusion written on his face.

"Yes," he answered blandly. Tenten looked annoyed at his answer.

"So, you mean to say that if you couldn't fight, than your life wouldn't be worth living?" Neji thought about this for a few moments, mulling the words over in his head.

"What do you mean?" he asked her.

"I mean, would there be anything, or anyone for that matter that would make your life worth living if you couldn't fight?"

"What's with the stupid questions, Tenten?" she scowled at him.

"Just answer me, Neji!" he looked annoyed now, and tried to find a way out of answering the question. He had an answer, but he wasn't going to let her know about it that easily.

"Why don't you tell me, Tenten?" he asked softly. "You ask me if I couldn't fight, then would there be anyone I would still live for. Why don't you tell me first who you fight, and, possibly, live for," Tenten's eyes narrowed. The tables had been turned on her. She averted her eyes towards the ground before answering.

"Well," she began hesitantly, "It's you." Neji sat there stunned. He didn't expect this. he could feel his cheeks beginning to turn red. He looked at Tenten to see that she, too, was blushing. He was surprised when she continued on.

"You're always making me stronger and better, though I'll probably never be as good a fighter as you. When you're on a mission, your team always comes first, and you always make sure that the mission is completed no matter what. But…" she continued on, staring at the sunlight speckled ground, looking distant. "It's more than that… growing up without parents was- is- really tough… but I always knew that I could depend on you no matter what… that you'd always be there for me… to make sure that I'd always be okay. You're the only one I can really talk to… the only one who would see me for me, and not as another nameless person… so, I guess that I fight for you because… I love you."

She broke off, leaving Neji at a loss for words. Never before had anyone spoken to him like that, and it melted his stone cold heart to hear the words he needed to hear for a long time spoken aloud to him by the person that understood him the most. Before he knew what he was doing, he leaned over to hear just as her head turned towards him. Lips met for the first time as the two ninja sat under the protective shade of the trees. After a few breathless moments, they broke apart, leaving Tenten speechless this time.

"Tenten," Neji began "you are the one I fight for because you made me realize that there's more to life than fighting, and fate. You helped me realize that love is a part of life too."

From then on, Tetnen risked her life for Neji, disregarding her own safety in regard for his own. In return, Neji guarded Tenten, keeping a watch on her at all times, never letting an enemy ninja touch her, because that day at the forest, both ninja realized that without each other, they had nothing to live for.

A/N: Thx 4 reading! plz review! btw, flames r ok w/ me.


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